On this year’s international day of love, men and women across the Harbour City will rise.
As part of One Billion Rising, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, Haven Society is hosting a choreographed dance event for men, women and children at Diana Krall Plaza.
“What we’re hoping to do is draw attention to the issue of violence against women, but also take a stand against it as well,” said Jennifer Kusz, a member of the planning committee.
The event stems from the statistic that one in three women in the world will be beaten or raped during her lifetime.
Calculated at the rate of seven billion people worldwide, that adds up to more than one billion women and girls, a news release states.
On Thursday (Feb. 14) Nanaimo will be one of hundreds of communities across the world participating in One Billion Rising. Participants of both genders are encouraged to learn the dance moves to ‘Break the Chain’, the official song for the movement, and then come out on the day of to participate in the group dance.
The Haven Society is hoping to draw a crowd of at least 100.
Kusz, who works with Haven’s community-based victim services, said the program supports approximately 200 women who are accessing the justice system or are in need of safety planning each month.
“It’s been steadily increasing over the last couple of years,” she said.
One Billion Rising in Nanaimo takes place Feb. 14 from noon to 1 p.m. at Diana Krall Plaza.
For more information on the event, please visit www.havensociety.com.
A link to a video tutorial of the moves to the official ‘Rising’ dance can be found at onebillionrising.org.